Nothing happens by chance. Our lives are a series of steps carefully orchestrated by the universe and the One above. The steps we take are often not linear. Most of the time, we zig zag and find twists and turns to make the plot interesting. Judson Todd Allen, internationally renowned, celebrity chef and CEO of Healthy Infused Cuisine, LLC, knows all about these challenges that make the victory even sweeter. At one point Allen was severely obese and in desperate need of reinvention. Fortunately, he found a healthier solution to satisfy his extreme cravings, transforming his body and career in the process.
Allen is known as the “Architect of Flavor,” a moniker well deserved for the Chicago native with a knack for cooking delicious meals with health in mind. This brother has a resume out this world. Many of you probably know Chef Allen from his appearance on Season 8 of “Food Network Star.” This top chef also prepares cuisine for some pretty big names and organizations, including media mogul, Steve Harvey. As the personal chef to Steve Harvey, Allen provides him the flavorful cuisine he requires to stay healthy and energized.
READ: Chef Judson Todd Allen: Building Flavor Instead Of Fat
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In a recent conversation, Judson Todd Allen shared with BlackDoctor.org that there's more to him than creating amazing food. He's got the blueprint for creating a flavorful life. Allow him to re-introduce himself.
BlackDoctor.org (BDO): Chef Allen, it’s a pleasure to talk to you. It’s not every day you get a chance to talk with somebody who has their own hot sauce. I will be trying it soon hopefully. Please tell our readers a little bit about yourself.
Judson Allen (JA): A little bit of background about me, I’m from Chicago, born and raised. So I’m a Chicago boy at the core. I think Chicago has the best food, better than any other city.
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I'm surrounded by food not only from a city perspective, but I had my grandparents who were amazing cooks. They were the biggest inspiration behind why I got into food and probably why I gained so much weight. They cooked so freaking good. Oh my gosh! And it wasn’t the healthiest. Let me slow down before I have flashbacks of the fried catfish and creamy grits (laughing)! My grandfather is from New Orleans so you know you can't tell somebody from New Orleans nothing when it comes to cooking. He didn’t think, he knew undoubtedly that he was the best cook in the world. So you know, unfortunately, it comes with a lot of heavy cream, butter, sugar, salt and everything else that we don’t need to deliver the flavor, but love.
As I got older I was introduced to “eating in the streets.” I went from eating home cooked meals that were delicious, to my tastebuds now being hijacked by fast food, that were authenticated by the grease stains on the brown bag.
Food really had a strong hold on me to a point where I gained 70 pounds my freshman year of college. This addiction carried on with me all the way up into college. I graduated from University of Illinois with a food science and nutrition degree. I was over 350 pounds at graduation. WHAT THE HELL?
Who is this dude with a food science and nutrition degree clearly over 350 pounds?
It was at that moment when I decided to do something different. I decided to develop a healthier lifestyle approach for myself. I really started using flavor, spices and other ingredients to give me that nostalgia of the food I remembered as a child.
I literally kind of psyched out my tastebuds so to speak. Using spices, herbs, fresh ingredients, cutting out things and using alternatives. It just works ! And the cool thing about it was that it tasted good.
I was like okay, I can do this.
BDO: A lot of people want to change and sometimes just seeing the scale isn’t enough. What else made you want to reinvent yourself and try something new?
JA: I had to make a choice. Either I was going to continue along this path of getting bigger and bigger and let it end my life. Or change for the better and do the right thing. I just didn’t like how I physically looked and feared the health complications that came with the weight. I literally felt trapped in a body and desperately wanted to break free. I knew I wanted to go into a career where image is everything. Weight is a barrier that holds people back from careers, job opportunities, relationships and I didn’t want that to be me. So I had to make that change.BDO: What moves helped you become the “Architect of Flavor?"
JA: When you dream and constantly think about creating culinary masterpieces, you know it’s a passion – a calling.
As I was going through my weight loss and healthy lifestyle journey, I used spices and ingredients to build the taste experience all while maintaining a healthy approach. I can attribute a great deal of my 160 pound weight loss to the spices.
I started to live by what I call the Six Commandments for Your Spice Diet Success, which motivates and inspires the reinvention of yourself. These are six principles that address your innermost issues of esteem, fear, purpose though the art of food. I expound upon these in my upcoming book, The Spice Diet.
READ: Steve Harvey's Weight Loss Secret
It wasn’t until 2012 that I went from sharing my story more on a local level, to having the opportunity to influence others nationally and then internationally. From Food Network to being tapped as a U.S. Culinary Ambassador for the Bahamas, as the “Architect of Flavor,” it’s all about keeping it healthy and of course making your eating experiences “foodgasmic”!
BDO: Reinvention is a theme in your life. I think about how you’ve transformed your body, your lifestyle, to now your career. Tell our readers what it's like to take ownership over your life and reinvent yourself.
JA: I needed that, I swear. I needed to reinvent myself because the self that I lived in was heading towards the wrong direction.
Having traveled around the world, spending time [in] places like Europe, Switzerland and Italy and studying at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, exposed me to new cultures, food techniques, ingredients and spices. It’s like so many of us stick within this really small bubble of what food flavor and spices really are. When we go to a grocery store we’re so programmed to do the exact same thing every time we go.
Having the opportunity to experience different cultures was priceless. Going into somebody’s 90-year-old grandmother’s kitchen in Venice, Italy; standing there and learning how to make fresh gelato or how to make one of the signature dishes that are home to the thousand dishes that they grow up on. Being in these little, tight, small places were the best experiences. That is what I think gave me the true value and true credibility.
I also had an opportunity to do some filming and learn about the different food culture and techniques in Jamaica. In the Bahamas it was just wholly different. You have to be fearless when it comes to the food. And that is who I am, fearless, when it comes to food. You know, I’ll try anything.
BDO: I just have to ask: Where do we get the hot sauce from? And what do you have coming up?
JA: You can get my healthy, low-sodium, all-natural hot sauce on my website and select high-end groceries stores.
I'm excited about my new book coming out in 2017 called The Spice Diet. It’s really taking my personal story of weight loss and struggles and food addiction and showing people that there is an answer. In The Spice Diet I redefine what the word diet is. Unfortunately, the word diet comes with a stigma, just as unhealthy food does.
I bring it to a place where I'm introducing people to spices, fresh ingredients, and different flavors and showing how people can use them in order to lose the weight. It’s getting people to fall in love with the kitchen.
The one thing I constantly hear is, “You know, I want to eat healthy. I want to lose weight, but my food is bland. My food is nasty and I don’t know how to use my spices”. Well, in my book I give it to you straight. I literally give you the recipe, I give you the pairing - the spice pairing - and also explore how spices can help. Some have medicinal attributes.
I'm excited about it. I’m working with QVC right now and hopefully launching my own line of packaged foods.
BDO: What type of impact are you having on people? I’m sure your family is benefiting from it especially.
JA: Oh for sure. I highlight those individuals in my book that have been successful with this new way of living. My mom lost 55 pounds so far. She’s cooking for herself using the spices I cooked up for her.
I take all of the experiences I’ve had traveling around the world and I bring it back to my cooking. People want to experience going to different countries; however, for some, they won’t have that opportunity. So I bring what I like to call “cultural mashups” to the table.
Korean culture mixed with soul food. Or mixing New Orleans cuisine with Spanish tapas cuisine. It’s very interesting because basically you redefine, you're recreating, you're always keeping something there that's of interest and I think that is where the food industry is going, I think that is what people want to see. I think that people are craving it and then be able to make it healthy is a plus. That's what I'm all about.
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